This disclosure relates generally to ovens, and more particularly to ovens with conveyors.
Most currently available culinary ovens can be divided into two main categories: 1) hearth-type ovens used primarily to ensure that cooked food has a preferred taste and texture; and 2) production ovens used primarily to provide a maximum volume of cooked items. Many people believe that the heating characteristics of masonry ovens are at least partly responsible for giving prepared food a unique flavor. However, in many circumstances it is not practical to use a conventional hearth-type oven, because specially trained oven operators are needed to achieve optimum results. These operators must closely watch and carefully tend the food during cooking, and as a result only limited amounts of food can be prepared at any one time.
Because of the limited capacity of conventional hearth-type ovens, high volume restaurants such as many pizzerias opt for forced-air or similar production ovens that employ conveyor systems. The conveyor systems used in production ovens allow pizzas to be produced in the large quantities necessary to meet customer demand. However, increased volume comes at the expense of losing the unique flavor and texture imparted to food cooked in hearth-type ovens.
In addition to lacking the desirable flavor and texture of hearth-type ovens, many production ovens"" heating characteristics are less than perfect. For example, when a large number of pizzas are cooked at the same time in most conventional production ovens, the temperature of the oven drops. When the oven temperature drops, the ovens automatic temperature compensation system attempts to compensate for the temperature drop by increasing the temperature of the oven. If a single pizza is cooked immediately after a large batch of pizzas has just been cooked, the single pizza will be burned.
Conventional hearth-type ovens impart a unique flavor and texture to food, but are unable to economically satisfy the need for high-quantity production. In contrast, although production ovens can satisfy high-quantity production requirements, they have less than ideal heating characteristics and cannot impart to food the desirable texture and flavor produced by hearth-type ovens. Clearly, it would be advantageous if a way could be found to prepare large quantities of food efficiently, while at the same time obtaining the flavor and texture obtained by hearth-type ovens.